Chemnitz is a pilot city in the "Smart Urban Services" innovation project

Chemnitz is the city laboratory of the research project "Smart Urban Services: Data-based service platform for the urban value creation of tomorrow". As part of the project, a sensor infrastructure will be set up in the Chemnitz city centre in summer 2017. After a one-month test phase, which begins on 28 June, operation is planned for one year.

All media representatives are invited to the installation of the first sensors at the traffic lights on the traffic island between Brückenstraße and Bahnhofstraße at 1 pm.

The sensors will be installed in the city centre, on Brühl and on the Chemnitz University of Technology campus Environmental and Bluetooth sensors on traffic lights and street lamps. While the former record temperature and humidity, the latter can register movement. The Bluetooth sensors access electronic devices such as road users' smartphones, provided they have activated the Bluetooth signal. A data protection concept has been developed for data collection. Data protection measures, such as pseudonymisation, prevent the collection of personal data and thus protect user information. The collected data is used for the prototypical development of three intelligent networked services, so-called smart services. The smart services are intended to help improve the quality of life of citizens in an innovative way.

In Chemnitz, an interactive city map is being developed that links the recorded movements in the city centre with event data. The map will be visible in the city centre and show what is going on in Chemnitz. The data collected will also be used to create a visual analysis tool that urban planners, researchers and transport experts can use in their work. Another smart service is an application for mobility behaviour. Users can use the app to provide information on journeys travelled, rate mobility comfort and also make suggestions for the design of public spaces, e.g. for locations for car-sharing stations, seating or bicycle stands. The data collected via the app is in turn fed into the visual analysis tool and can be taken into account by urban planners and targeted improvements can be made, for example in the area of public transport. Chemnitz residents are to be persuaded to use the app. The app is to be used from autumn 2017 and is available for Android operating systems. Interested parties who use a different operating system or do not own a smartphone can borrow devices from the project.

Background

To develop the smart services, researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering analysed the needs of the city of Chemnitz, also taking into account the results of the Morgenstadt analysis "City Lab Chemnitz". Various specialist departments of the City of Chemnitz and municipal stakeholders such as Chemnitzer Verkehrs-AG (CVAG), Chemnitzer Wirtschaftsförderungs- u. Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH (CWE) and the Zwickau-Chemnitz Student Union are involved in the development process.

The research project is being led by the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering in Stuttgart. In addition to the City of Chemnitz, other project partners include the Institute for Labour Science and Technology Management at the University of Stuttgart and Input Consulting - Gemeinnützige Gesellschaft für Innovationstransfer, Post & Telekommunikation mbH. Another city laboratory is being set up in Reutlingen

The project "Smart Urban Services: Data-based service platform for the urban value creation of tomorrow"" is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as part of the "Innovations for the production, services and work of tomorrow" programme and supervised by PTKA Projektträger Karlsruhe.